When Illinois and Missouri meet in St. Louis, it’s all but guaranteed that the action will be tense and physical. The only thing missing from the rivalry in recent years has been close games.
Sunday’s matchup was a refreshing change of pace as Illinois pulled out an 80-77 win that ended the Tigers’ 10-game winning streak. “After the last two years of pretty ugly basketball games for the fans, I think we gave them a pretty good show today,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
Illinois led for 29 minutes, 55 seconds, outrebounded Missouri by 12 (42-30), shot 22 for 23 from the free throw line and looked the part of a team that should be ranked in next week’s AP Poll. The game solidified further that Illini freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis is a bona fide star, as the Lithuanian native scored 21 points, dished out four assists, shot 8 for 8 at the free throw line and hit the game’s biggest shot on a fadeaway jumper with 28 seconds to go. “He’s playing as well as anyone in the country,” Underwood said. “It’s just different to be able to [make that late shot]. Ayo [Dosunmu] got to that point, Trent [Frazier] got to that point where you just want the ball, you’re not afraid of the moment, you don’t fear failure…He’s got a confidence and a swagger that’s just not afraid to fail.”
Jakucionis has now eclipsed 20 points in Illinois’ last six games, and has been its leading scorer in each of them. “I’ve been watching this since he came here,” said Kylan Boswell, the Arizona transfer who added 16 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in the win. “There’s a reason why draft boards have him where he is. Best point guard in the nation without a doubt. He’s an inspiration for me.”
Even while losing, Missouri showed that it is a vastly more competitive team than the one that went winless in the SEC last season. Coach Dennis Gates revamped his roster and has Mizzou off to a 10-2 start including a win over then-No. 1 Kansas. Gates’ team was down by double-digits Sunday, but regained the lead with 4:13 to go after trailing for most of the game. “I’m proud of our team,” Gates said. “We cut the lead two or three times between the 11-minute mark and the nine-minute mark and Illinois made a tough shot…The thing that we didn’t do was hang our heads and we kept fighting. We kept our foot on the shovel and we kept digging. That’s the sign of a good team.”
The comeback effort ultimately fell short, but Underwood was impressed by Missouri’s fight. “You go up 10 and they go on an 11-0 run, as I call it, chaos,” he said, “Nobody does that better than Missouri. Dennis [Gates] does a fabulous job. Coming off of the year they had last year, he’s put together an incredible team…That’s a really good Missouri team that will be participating in March.”
The Tigers’ effort also says something about senior guard Tamar Bates, who transferred from Indiana, Iowa transfer Tony Perkins and Duke transfer Mark Mitchell. The trio combined for 53 points on Sunday, but Mitchell’s missed three with nine seconds to go, and Jacob Crews’ miss from beyond the arc sealed Sunday’s showdown in Illinois’ favor.
Illinois now sits at 8-3 with wins over Arkansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Illini have one more game, at home against Chicago State, before Big Ten play goes into full swing with a Jan. 2 date at Oregon.
